Petoskey man's child porn trial postponed till August

PETOSKEY — The trial of a Petoskey man accused of possessing child pornography which had been slated for this month has been postponed till August.

Richard Roger Ruffe, 51, whose jury trial in Emmet County's 57th Circuit Court was set for this week and then for next week, is now scheduled to appear in court for trial in August, said Emmet County prosecutor Jim Linderman.

Ruffe, who is out on bond, faces 29 felony counts, including multiple counts of possession of child sexually abusive material; multiple counts of distributing or promoting child sexually abusive material, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and/or $50,000; multiple counts of using computers to commit a crime; and computers — Internet — communicating with another to commit a crime, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or $5,000, court records show.

Both Ruffe and his former house mate Jerry Francis Battle, 72, faced child pornography charges after authorities allegedly discovered child pornography was being downloaded by Ruffe's IP address, according to affidavits filed in the cases. A search warrant was served at the men's home on Dec. 15 and, from Ruffe's room, police seized multiple computers and hard drives.

Police allege tens of thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography were found as a result of the seizure.

Battle, who initially registered with the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry in 2000, previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material, a felony offense, and was sentenced earlier this year to serve a minimum of 16 months to a maximum of eight years in prison, with credit for 72 days served, and to pay $1,721.25 in fines, costs and restitution, court records show.